WERA and WERA Vintage made its first visit to Summit Point for the 1999 season. Over 300 riders for vintage and solo endurance events arrived to a remarkably pleasant day. Also arriving to Summit Point for the first time were new bikes for the season, including the Honda CBR600F4, and the much anticipated Yamaha R6. The Solo 16 events provided some great battles on Saturday, especially during Heavyweight Expert race. Although Bryan Bemisderfer pulled out a sizable lead during the race, the battle between Kenneth Snyder, David Rose, David Yaakov, and Quentin Mise lasted the whole race. Snyder eventually snatched 2nd place after riding the last several laps flawlessly on his 600, besting much larger machines. The Memiumweight Expert Solo 16 was also closely contested, but not for first. David Rose got the holeshot and made the best of it, getting over a second-a-lap lead on the field and cruising for a 10-second lead at the finish. Charles Otis, John Van Buren, and Gary L'hommedieu kept it close during the rest of the race but Otis took 2nd on his Suzuki over Van Buren's Yamaha R6.
Sunday became a battle of the haves vs. the have nots - those who had rain tires and those who did not. Heavy rain during the night and morning hours flooded several turns on the 2-mile circuit. An early morning riders meeting convened during the rain, and Race Director George Mood proclaimed that racing would continue despite the conditions. He then reminded everyone of Summit Point's reputation as an unforgiving track when wet. All riders present groaned their agreement. According to Mood, cancelling the day's events would jeopardize sponsor contingency programs. So with the approval of the majority of the riders present, practices were combined and the races shortened to 4 laps each.
Practice was sparsely attended while riders decided whether to pack it in or mount rain tires. Some without the choice of rains bravely ran with DOTs. Heavy rain shortened some practice sessions, and lunch was called early to avoid the rain. After the lunch break, the rain let up somewhat and during the day, a dry line began to appear. Several races were combined to save time and take advantage of brief moments of sunshine.
The MARRC pickup truck remained quite busy bringing in wet and muddy riders. Luckily, there were few ambulance calls, but damaged machines dotted the paddock. Turns 1 and 7 took many casualties, including Steve Keener during D Superbike, who tried to pass Summit veteran Brian Kcraget on the brakes into Turn 1. By Turn 2, Kcraget was alone and Keener had joined a number of other riders in the mud.
Multi-race winners on Sunday were Brian Kcraget(4 for 4) and Josh Steinburg (3 for 3) who shined in competitive lightweight classes. Both know their way around Summit Point and proved it with smooth, consistent riding.
The inaugural exhibition Thumper (unlimited 4-stroke singles) Race had least four expert riders out of 10 entries, quite a turnout for an event that paid no points and no trophies. Event organizer Tom Fitzpatrick rode his GB500 to a respectable 5th place, considering the likes of Michael Tiberio on a TZ-framed Honda 600 single pulled out a sizable lead to start. Fans were happy to see George Fitz on an MZ catch up to Tiberio, and pass him in Turn 10 on the final lap. Tiberio regrouped and passed him just before the finish of a great race.
The real heroes of the weekend were the members of the MARRC safety crew, who not only braved the rain and the cold, but grumpy and wet riders who took numerous off-track excursions. The cornerworkers remained calm, acted like professionals, and not doubt saved what could have been a miserable weekend.
Special thanks to Tom Fitzpatrick, Thane Stielow, and Steve Keener for their help in recapping the weekend.
Stay tuned for more information and race photos from the weekend.
WERA's Weekend Race Results